6.  In the period between 5 August 1992 and 15 August 1998 the applicant worked as deputy chair of the Central Bank of Turkmenistan. In 2000 he became a member of the political movement “Watan”, which broadly criticised the political regime in Turkmenistan.
7.  In October 2001 the applicant, his wife and children moved to Bulgaria. The applicant set up his own business in the field of construction development and obtained permanent residency. In 2003 he became a co‑founder and an executive member of the Turkmen Helsinki Foundation, an organisation which was founded in Varna and was engaged in human rights protection in Turkmenistan.
8.  It appears that because of his political activity members of the applicant’s family were subjected to persecution in Turkmenistan. In 2006 his sister was tortured and murdered in prison.
9.  On 10 March 2004 the Bulgarian authorities granted humanitarian status to the applicant under the Asylum and Refugees Act 2002.
10.  On 22 October 2002 the Turkmen authorities charged the applicant with aggravated embezzlement of public funds amounting to 40,000,000 United States dollars (USD). The crime had allegedly been committed between 25 July and 3 September 2002. According to the charges, the applicant had acted in his capacity as an official at the Central Bank of Turkmenistan and together with his accomplices had used the standard system for bank-to-bank payments, SWIFT, to illegally transfer the above amount from the Turkmen bank to banks in Germany, Latvia, the Russian Federation and Hong Kong. On 10 February 2003 those charges were supplemented by an additional charge of forging documents. In relation to those charges, the Turkmen prosecutor also ordered the applicant’s detention.
11.  Since at that time the applicant resided in Bulgaria, on 22 October 2002 the Turkmen Prosecutor’s Office filed a request with the Bulgarian authorities for his extradition.
12.  In relation to the extradition request, on 4 December 2002 the applicant was taken into custody for twenty-four hours by virtue of a police order. The applicant sought judicial review of the order and on 5 December 2002 the Varna Regional Court set it aside. The court ruled that the order was flawed because it did not indicate any legal ground for the applicant’s detention. On 18 June 2003 the Supreme Administrative Court upheld the decision of the lower court.
13.  On his release from police custody on 5 December 2002, the applicant was served with a prosecutor’s decree which ordered his detention for seventy-two hours in relation to the extradition proceedings. The decree relied on the 1974 Code of Criminal Procedure (“the 1974 Code”) and Article 65 of the 1975 Treaty between the Republic of Bulgaria and the former USSR for Legal Aid in Civil, Family and Criminal Cases (“the 1975 Treaty”).
14.  On 6 December 2002 the Varna Regional Court extended the applicant’s detention for a period of thirty days on the basis of Article 68 of the 1975 Treaty. On an appeal by the applicant, in a decision of 17 December 2002 the Varna Court of Appeal lifted the detention order and the applicant was released on bail.
15.  On 23 January 2003 the prosecutor brought the extradition request to the Varna Regional Court for examination.
16.  In a final decision of 22 May 2003 the Varna Regional Court refused the extradition request. The court applied the 1975 Treaty and the relevant provisions of the 1974 Code. The court found, in particular, that in the period during which he had allegedly committed the crime, the applicant had not been employed at the bank, could not have acted in an official capacity and could not have used the SWIFT network to carry out the impugned transactions. The court further found that the criminal proceedings against the applicant were connected to his political activities and the extradition request had been made with the aim of persecuting and punishing the applicant for his political beliefs. The court also specifically referred to a potential violation of Article 3 of the Convention in the event of the applicant’s extradition.
17.  The court’s decision was not challenged on appeal and became final on 30 May 2003.
18.  On 17 September 2003 the applicant lodged claims for damages in the amount of 100,000 Bulgarian levs (BGN), (the equivalent of approximately 51,000 euros (EUR)), under the 1988 Act with the Varna Regional Court against the police and the Chief Prosecutor’s Office. The applicant stated that as a result of the actions of the police and the prosecuting authorities, more specifically, the fifteen-day period of detention and the extradition proceedings, he had sustained non-pecuniary damage. In a judgment of 17 September 2004 the court dismissed all the claims.
19.  Upon appeal, in a judgment of 12 January 2005 the Varna Court of Appeal granted the applicant’s claim against the Chief Prosecutor’s Office for the unlawful arrest and dismissed the remainder of the claims. In a judgment of 21 June 2006 the Supreme Court of Cassation quashed (обезсилва) the judgment in respect of the granted claim against the Chief Prosecutor’s Office and returned the case to the lower court in that part, finding that the claim should have been directed against the Prosecutor’s Office as a whole. The court upheld the remainder of the judgment with final effect.
20.  In a judgment of 2 October 2006 the Varna Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s claim against the Prosecutor’s Office. It also delivered a ruling regarding one of the claims against the police, the judgment about which had become final by virtue of the Supreme Court of Cassation’s ruling of 21 June 2006.
21.  Upon appeal, in a final judgment of 14 November 2007 the Supreme Court of Cassation dismissed the applicant’s claim for damages for unlawful detention against the Prosecutor’s Office. The court found that the Prosecutor’s Office had acted in accordance with the international obligations of the State. The court noted that the prosecutor was bound by virtue of Article 65 of the Treaty which, in the court’s view, provided for compulsory detention in the event of an extradition request. The court further held that the applicant’s detention did not fall within the scope of the 1988 Act as it had not been ordered by the prosecutor but stemmed from the State’s international obligations. As regards the claim against the police, the court quashed that part of the court of appeal’s ruling. It also held that in the quashed part the judgment was subject to a further review by a five‑member panel of the Supreme Court of Cassation.
22.  The applicant’s appeal against that ruling was rejected as inadmissible on 22 July 2008 by a five-member panel of the Supreme Court of Cassation. The court held that the judgment of the Supreme Court of Cassation of 14 November 2007 had become final in its entirety on delivery.
23.  In relation to the proceedings, the applicant was ordered to pay a State fee of BGN 8,000 (the equivalent of approximately EUR 4,100).
24.  Meanwhile, in an order of 11 September 2003 a prosecutor from the Varna Prosecutor’s Office laid charges against the applicant for aggravated money laundering allegedly committed in Varna in the period between December 2001 and November 2002. The applicant was accused, in particular, of having transferred a significant amount of money, acquired as a result of criminal conduct, to a bank account in Dubai on 21 November 2002. The alleged criminal conduct was the embezzlement of USD 40,000,000 from the Central Bank of Turkmenistan in the period between 25 July and 3 September 2002 by means of the standard system for bank-to-bank payments, SWIFT, that is, the same offence for which extradition had been denied a few months earlier (see paragraph 16 above).
25.  On 26 January 2004 the prosecutor discontinued the proceedings for lack of evidence. The prosecutor found, as did the extradition court, that since in the period between 25 July and 3 September 2002 the applicant had not worked at the Central Bank of Turkmenistan (at that time he was already residing in Bulgaria) and therefore could not possibly have used the system for bank-to-bank payments, SWIFT, it was objectively impossible for him to have committed the said crime. Thus, there was insufficient evidence that the amount in question had been acquired as a result of criminal conduct and the criminal proceedings for money laundering should be discontinued.
26.  On an appeal by the applicant, in a decision of 16 February 2004 the Varna Regional Court amended the prosecutor’s order and terminated the proceedings because no crime had been committed. The court found it established, on the grounds of the prosecutor’s findings as well as the decision on the extradition request, that at the time of the alleged criminal conduct by virtue of which the amount had allegedly been obtained the applicant had not been employed at the Central Bank of Turkmenistan and therefore could not have committed the crime. It also based its conclusions on the findings of the extradition court, namely, that the accusations against the applicant had been politically motivated and were aimed at his persecution.
27.  On 28 February 2006 Interpol Ashgabat, apparently at the request of the Turkmen authorities, announced by way of a red notice that the applicant was wanted by the Turkmen authorities. According to the red notice the applicant was charged with the embezzlement of USD 40,000,000 committed in the period between 25 July and 3 September 2002. The notice also referred to the same arrest warrant issued by the Turkmen authorities in 2002.
28.  On 19 February 2007 the National Police Service informed the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor’s Office that the applicant had been arrested. On 20 February 2007 a prosecutor from that office ordered the applicant’s provisional detention on the basis of Article 65 of the 1975 Treaty with reference to section 13(5) of the 2005 Extradition and European Arrest Warrant Act (“the 2005 Act”) and gave instructions on how to proceed with the case.
29.  On 9 March 2007 the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor’s Office received a request for extradition from the Turkmen authorities through the intermediary of Interpol. The request referred to the charges raised against the applicant on 22 October 2002 and 10 February 2003, which had been the subject matter of the first extradition request, namely, that in the period between 25 July and 3 September 2002 the applicant had embezzled USD 40,000,000. The request did not contain any new information or evidence with respect to the charges.
30.  On 29 March 2007 the prosecutor brought the case before the Varna Regional Court. The court declined extradition in a judgment of 12 April 2007. Based on the findings of the investigative authorities and the court in the criminal proceedings against the applicant, the Varna Regional Court held that the alleged criminal conduct did not constitute a crime under Bulgarian law. Pursuant to Article 61(г) of the 1975 Treaty that circumstance was an absolute procedural impediment to extradition. The court further found that extradition would violate Article 3 of the Convention as the applicant had been granted humanitarian status, the political environment in Turkmenistan had not changed, and the applicant’s life and limb would be put at risk if he were extradited. Those circumstances also constituted procedural obstacles for extradition pursuant to section 7(4) and (5) of the 2005 Act.
31.  In a final ruling of 3 May 2007 the Varna Court of Appeal upheld the lower court’s judgment. The court stated that the request for extradition had been identical to the one examined in 2003. The court further held that the judgment of 22 May 2003 refusing extradition was binding with regard to all individuals, legal entities and authorities. In view of that and without entering into its merits, the court stated that the case could not be reexamined.
32.  On 19 February 2007 the applicant was taken into custody for twenty-four hours by virtue of a police order for his detention in relation to his possible extradition. On the next morning he was released.
33.  Later that day the applicant’s lawyer received a prosecutor’s decree ordering the applicant’s provisional detention under the 1975 Treaty (see paragraphs 49-50 below), pending the receipt of an official request for his extradition. The decree referred to the exigency of the situation, the risk of the applicant absconding and the arrest warrant issued by the Turkmen authorities in 2002.
34.  The applicant was summoned to appear at the police station. On the same day he was placed in detention.
35.  On 22 February 2007 the applicant was brought before the Varna Regional Court. He argued that his detention was unlawful as it stemmed from an identical request for extradition and that the criminal proceedings against him in Bulgaria had been terminated in 2004 on the grounds that no crime had been committed. The court reiterated the details of the criminal charge against the applicant and emphasised its seriousness. It also noted that an arrest warrant had been issued by the Turkmen authorities in 2002. On the basis of that, the court concluded that there was a real danger of the applicant absconding or reoffending. The court also found that it was not bound by the earlier refusal for extradition and held that there had been no evidence that the applicant had been persecuted in Turkmenistan on account of his political views. As a result the court ordered the applicant’s provisional detention for a period of forty days pursuant to section 13(7) of the 2005 Act.
36.  On an appeal by the applicant, in a decision of 27 February 2007 the Varna Court of Appeal upheld the detention order. The court stated that it could not review whether sufficient evidence had been collected to prove the applicant’s guilt or whether the alleged crime was identical to the one examined during the extradition proceedings in 2003. However, in its view, the fact that the applicant was wanted by Interpol was sufficient to justify his detention. As a result, the court upheld the regional court’s judgment.
37.  On an unspecified date the applicant sought judicial review of his detention again. As before, he drew attention to the identical nature of the two charges. On 21 March 2007 the regional court dismissed the request, stating that the applicant had failed to show any new facts which could justify his release and, moreover, that there was no evidence to rebut the finding that there was a real risk of the applicant absconding or committing another crime.
38.  Meanwhile, on 9 March 2007 the Turkmen authorities sent an extradition request and the prosecutor lodged a request with the Varna Regional Court for the applicant’s detention for the period of the extradition proceedings. In a decision of 30 March 2007 the court extended the applicant’s detention for the course of the extradition proceedings. The court held that in view of the seriousness of the offence, there was a real risk that he would abscond or reoffend.
39.  In a hearing on 3 April 2007 the Varna Court of Appeal examined appeals against the decisions of 21 and 30 March 2007. The court upheld the order for the applicant’s detention. It stated, relying on section 14 of the 2005 Act and the 1975 Treaty, that the applicant’s detention was mandatory for the course of the extradition proceedings. The court again dismissed the applicant’s arguments that an identical extradition request had already been examined by a court.
40.  On no occasion did the prosecutor or the courts examine whether extradition was possible, as required by Article 65 of the 1975 Treaty (see paragraph 49 below).
41.  The applicant was released on 12 April 2007 after the Varna Regional Court refused extradition.
42.  The applicant submitted that during his detention pending extradition he was accommodated in a cell in Varna Prison which was small and overcrowded. He was allowed to leave his cell three times a day and was entitled to a half-hour walk outside. The cell was not equipped with a toilet or a sink and the inmates had to use a bucket. Hygiene in the toilets, ventilation and heating were poor. The food was of poor quality.
43.  The applicant went on to claim that he had to spend some time in a cell in the Varna Regional Court, awaiting hearings. He submitted that the court cell was very cold and damp and that as a result his health significantly deteriorated. He claimed that the medical treatment in prison was inadequate.
44.  On 15 September 2007 the State Agency for Refugees granted refugee status to the applicant. The agency based its decision on the situation in Turkmenistan, the political activity of the applicant and the two dismissed requests for extradition.